The acquisition of reading proficiency is a cumulative process that requires the guidance of a mentor, commonly a parent or teacher, and practice. The present invention is an audio/visual technique that simulates the guidance of a mentor by presenting customized audio narration together with a video display of printed text having portions thereof highlighted in synchronism with the narration. It is designed to motivate children to practice reading.
Educational research has shown that the rate at which a child""s reading skills increases is in direct proportion to the amount and frequency with which the child (1) is read to by a mentor and (2) practices reading under the guidance of the mentor.
(1) The Importance of Reading to a Child
In her chapter entitled, xe2x80x9cGrowing Successful Readers: Homes, Schools, and Communities,xe2x80x9d Victoria Purcell-Gates, Ph.D., states:
xe2x80x9cIf we want children to learn the span of concepts about print, including directionality, eye-voice match, and so forth, we need to have children involved in reading and writing attempts of actual connected text. If we want children to learn about the phonemic base of written English, we must involve them in reading and writing attempts that focus them on discovering it through xe2x80x9csounding outxe2x80x9d and with the help of teachers who help them do this. Many believe that this is best done at first with phonetically regular words and text (Juel and Roper/Schneider, 1985), and lots of opportunities to read such text in order to internalize the regularities and promote automaticity of word recognition and processing. If we want children to learn about the vocabulary, syntax, and decontextualized natures of different forms of written discourse, then we must read aloud to them from text that is too difficult for them to read on their own.xe2x80x9d
A variety of reading software and electronic devices have been developed to provide some of the mechanical aspects of reading to a child (e.g., providing the sound of a letter, phoneme, or word on demand and highlighting words while their sounds are played). In their book xe2x80x9cLearning to Read in the Computer Age,xe2x80x9d Anne Meyer, Ed.D., and David Rose, Ed.D., describe the progress made in the usefulness of computer software to improve reading skills:
xe2x80x9cUsing a computer, students can write, ask a word or letter to say its own name, have a story read, see the lyrics to a song while listening to it . . . No other technology approaches this kind of versatility.xe2x80x9d
However, room for improvement remains to increase the effectiveness of reading software by adding more of the human aspects of reading to a child. Examples of such human aspects are: reading a story with drama and feeling while pointing to the text as it is read and answering questions about the meaning of words in the story not with dictionary definitions, but with explanations that take the context of the story into account.
(2) The Importance of Practice
Educational research has also shown that reading improvement depends upon the amount of meaningful practice, which in turns depends upon the child""s interest in learning to read and willingness to practice. In her chapter entitled xe2x80x9cThe Three-Cueing System,xe2x80x9d Marilyn Jager Adams, Ph.D., states:
xe2x80x9cAs expected, instructional support . . . generally does result in increases in the productivity of [children""s] reading. Yet research also has shown that as children""s reading experience grows, [their] capabilities tend to grow alongside. That is, to the extent that children do read, they generally learn new words, new meanings, new linguistic structures, and new modes of thought through reading (Stanovich, 1993).The wisdom of the popular dictum that reading is best learned through reading follows directly. So too, however, does the seriousness of its most nettlesome caveat: Where children find reading too difficult, they very often will not do it-or at least not with the sort of engagement that best fosters learning.xe2x80x9d
Regarding the various approaches that have been developed to support the acquisition of reading proficiency, room for improvement also remains to increase children""s motivation to practice by make the process interesting, fun, and frustration-free.
An additional need exists for a reading support system capable of instilling xe2x80x9creading readinessxe2x80x9d in prereaders. In her book xe2x80x9cBeginning to Read, Thinking and Learning About Print,xe2x80x9d Marilyn Jager Adams, Ph.D., states xe2x80x9cThe xe2x80x98reading readyxe2x80x99 child enters school with a substantial base of prereading skills and a wealth of experience with and knowledge about the pleasures and functions of text and about literary language and styles . . . the likelihood that a child will succeed in the first grade depends most of all on how much she or he has learned already about reading before getting there.xe2x80x9d
Dr. Purcell-Gates lists the following five dimensions of xe2x80x9creading readinessxe2x80x9d: (1) intentionality, (2) written register knowledge, (3) alphabetic principle knowledge, (4) concepts of writing, and (5) concepts about print. Research studies show that preschoolers"" mastery of these five dimensions is a predictor of their later success in learning to read. Details on each of these five dimensions is provided below.
(1) Intentionality
Children who understand intentionality know that print xe2x80x9csays something.xe2x80x9d They do not have to know what it says; they only have to know that it says something. Thus, when a young child tugs on her mother""s sleeve, points to a printed sign (e.g., Exit) over the door in the store and asks, xe2x80x9cWhat does it say?xe2x80x9d one may conclude that this child knows that print is a linguistically meaningful system.
2) Written Register Knowledge
Children with written register knowledge possess implicit schemas for the syntax, vocabulary, and reference characteristics of written narrative that are distinct from those they hold for oral speech. Knowledge of written storybook register is knowledge of vocabulary and syntax, and of linguistic ways to maintain meaning within text without reference to the physical world via gesture, intonation, or shared background knowledge.
3) Alphabetic Principle Knowledge
When one masters the alphabetic principle, he or she understands that encoding and decoding English words begins at the phoneme/grapheme level. That is, letters generally stand for individual xe2x80x9cphonemesxe2x80x9d (speech sounds). Whether one can do this accurately (conventionally map the correct letter to the sound) is beside the point at this stage. Understanding the alphabetic principle is knowing that one must do this to read and write English.
(4) Concepts of Writing
Children who understand concepts of writing conceptualize writing as a system. To measure children""s understanding of concepts of writing, researchers hand them pencil and paper and asked them to xe2x80x9cWrite your name and anything else you can.xe2x80x9d Those children with a strong grasp of the concept of writing, write words or pseudo-words. Children who score lowest on this task draw pictures, scribbles, lines around the border of the page, etc. Children who understand concepts of writing know the difference between printed text and illustrations and decorations in a book.
(5) Concepts About Print
Children who understand concepts about print understand that marks called xe2x80x9clettersxe2x80x9d make up xe2x80x9cwords,xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cwordsxe2x80x9d make up xe2x80x9csentencesxe2x80x9d that are marked by periods, question marks, and exclamation marks. They know that these marks are written, and read, beginning at the top left corner of the block of print and across horizontally to the top right corner, at which point one returns to the left end of the line underneath the one just finished, and so on. They know that letters are different from numbers and pictures and that their shapes, orientations and identities are stable across time and across contexts.
Progress in these five dimensions can be attained with one-on-one reading sessions for the child by, for example, a family member or a teacher. However, this has obvious inherent limitations involving availability, time, expense, convenience and so on. Computers have been looked at as a potentially useful tool to use in this task, and there are a number of useful computer reading programs available on CD-ROMs. However, a more multifaceted and versatile computerized system is needed than any yet devised in terms of its ability to both enhance reading readiness in preschoolers and support the goals of formal reading curricula in English-speaking public and private schools around the world, regardless of whether their teaching approach emphasizes whole-language, phonetics, or reading recovery.
One object of the present invention is to simulate story reading by a human mentor in order to instill reading readiness in prereaders and to increase early readers"" understanding of the relationship between written and oral language.
Another object of the invention is to provide mentoring support for the development of sounding-out skills in early readers.
Another object of the invention is to provide early readers with enjoyable, frustration-free reading practice.
Another object of the present invention is to help early readers improve both vocabulary and comprehension by providing the meanings of vocabulary words within the context of text passages.
These and other objects are attained in accordance with one aspect of the present invention directed to a computer-implemented technique for improving reading proficiency. A text is displayed on a video screen, and an audio narration of the text is generated from stored audio data. The words in the displayed text are highlighted during the audio narration generating operation, wherein highlighting includes distinctly displaying a current word to visually indicate that it is being narrated, displaying a group of words narrated prior to the current word in a manner distinct from the current word, and displaying a group of words yet to be narrated after the current word in a manner distinct from the current word and the words narrated prior to the current word.
Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a computer-implemented technique for improving reading proficiency. A text is displayed on a video screen, and access is provided to stored audio data related to parts of words in the text. In response to user selection of a particular word from the text, the stored audio data corresponding to the parts of said particular word is retrieved, and a part-by-part pronunciation of the particular word is generated from the retrieved audio data. Each of the parts is highlighted in the displayed text as the pronunciation of such part is being generated from the retrieved audio data corresponding thereto.
Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a computer-implemented technique for improving reading proficiency. A text is displayed on a video screen, and access is provided to stored audio data representing narration of definitions for words in the text, wherein more than one definition is stored for any word used within the text in more than one context. Words in the text are associated with the definitions, respectively, such that a word with more than one definition is associated with a corresponding contextual definition thereof. In response to user selection of a particular word from the text, the stored audio data representing the definition associated therewith is retrieved, and an audio narration is generated from the retrieved audio-data.
Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a computer-implemented technique for improving reading proficiency. A text is displayed on a video screen, and access is provided to stored audio data representing a narration of the text. An audio narration of the text is generated from the stored audio data, and words in the displayed text are highlighted during the audio narration generating operation, wherein each word is highlighted in relation to its narration during the reproducing operation.
Embodiments implementing the above-mentioned techniques of the invention can take various forms, such as method, apparatus, article of manufacture and a signal.